No appetite - any ideas?

[cbmilito]

Can anyone please help with some ideas for my mother in law who has had operation for stage 3 ovarian cancer and due to c/a being found in the bowel now has a temporary colostomy. Shet is now 2 weeks post op.  Going to Drs tomorrow for follow up re info on chemo etc.  Dietician suggestion, low fat, low residue diet.  She is not eating very well, has no appetite, cannot taste anything and feels no incentive to eat. Breakfast she can manage, but from then onwards does not appear to want to eat anything, but yesterday, mothers day she felt weak, so ate some cereal.  Whatever we suggest she doesnt have the interest in.  We are concerned, because the dr prior to surgery said she needs to be built up in prepartion for the chemo, and all i can see is that she is getting weaker and losing more weight.  Her colostomy bag has been a problem since leaving hospital - it will not stay attached to the skin, and she now has a very bad 'diaper rash'.  Obviously this is distressing for her, and adds to her anxiety.  
So any suggestion you may have regarding helping her to get some interest back into giving her the desire to eat will be very helpful.  
Charlotte

[marie3B]

Could you get a home health ostomy nurse to help her get used to the colostomy?  I am never sure what is available in other areas, but I know my community has this service.  The nurses are great and help with all ostomy needs.  

About the appetite.  Try not worrying about meals and have available a variety of things she might be able to eat a few bites of.  When my appetite was gone, the ladies from work just kept bringing me all kinds of stuff.  I found that breads were easy to eat....like zuchinni bread and banana breads.  I hated both before I got sick, but liked them following my surgery and through chemo. Is she drinking enough?  I suggest cranberry juice if she can tolerate it.  I feel it helped me through chemo.

Good luck.  I hope she feels better soon.  Love, Marie

[BeachGal7]

Two to three teaspoons of castor oil can help with appetite.  Castor oil by itself is quite unpalatable, but when mixed with orange juice, tea, coke, icecream, etc should be okay.  Because of intestinal surgery, you may want to use just one teaspoon a day.  The beauty of castor oil is that not only does it get the bowels moving and bring about some appetite, but it also dissolves any tumors or cysts that may come across the length of the whole abdominal tract and naturally remove any potential blockages… best wishes..

[JC145]

Talk to the doctor.  Megace is one drug that can stimulate the appetite ..

Judy c

[cbmilito]

Thanks for suggestion. I will pass this on and when she sees the dr tomorrow, they can ask him about Megace.

Thanks, Charlotte

[cbmilito]

I have spoken to my m-in-law and she sounded excited about the banana bread, with no nuts...... so will be baking her one to take to her.
thanks for suggestions.
Charlotte

[cbmilito]

Interesting about the castor oil, I will check this out.  Thanks for your help.
Charlotte

[marie3B]

I don't like nuts in the banana bread either!! I sure hope she feels well soon. Love, Marie

[crecco]

My DR recommended that i eat small amounts off and on through the day. Even something like Ensure or Boost would be good to help her recieve the nutrients that she needs. But please speak to her Dr about this.
   Chris

[alanpvegas]

ye yep...i agree with the other posters, Megace (and there is a new version also that works better) is the mainstay for regaining appetite.  And something you may not know either, is that it's also been researched for fighting cancer! :)

Beyond that, look at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) website at cancer dot gov for free resources on 'nutrition for cancer patients' (etc)...they have sooooo much information and you can order free books as well.  It came in very handy even though my mom never was able to eat in her 1.2 years of fighting ovca except for 2 months.